This invention relates to a method and apparatus for solvent cleaning machinery parts and the like and more particularly to a method and apparatus having improved means for dispersing the used cleaning solvent as it is discharged into a container therefor so that a minimum of agitation is imparted to the sludge accumulated on the bottom of the container, thus greatly reducing turbulence.
Heretofore in the art to which my invention relates, various methods and systems have been employed to wash small machinery parts and the like. Such devices include parts washers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,404 which utilizes two immiscible fluids of different densities to form a filter for removing foreign materials from the used cleaning solvent. With this parts washer, used cleaning solvent is drained from the washbasin for the machinery parts and is discharged downwardly onto the bottom of a container for the used solvent. This discharge of used solvent agitates the sludge accumulated on the bottom of the container and causes particles of sludge to rise with the lighter immiscible fluid into an upper zone of the fluid within the container. The turbulence thus created by the discharge of used cleaning solvent causes ineffective and inefficient cleaning of the used solvent.
Other parts washers with which I am familiar employ mechanical filters to remove foreign particles from the used cleaning solvent. Such mechanical filters are expensive and require considerable time and effort to maintain them in proper operating condition.